The four key users of financial statements are owners/managers, lenders, investors and governments. These users rely on financial statements to evaluate a company's past financial performance as indicators in areas of profitability, liquidity, leverage, and efficiency; to create benchmarking matrixes; and to support future decision-making.

Choose two companies in the same industry whose financial statements are available online. Complete several financial ratios for each company and compare them. Share your analysis and answer the following questions:

• What did your analysis tell you about these companies?
• What sorts of decisions would this analysis help you make; such as buying stocks, considering accepting an employment offer, etc.?